DI: What is the main principle, idea and inspiration behind your design?
: The inspiration was taken from the shape of a dynamic human torso, as seen on an ancient statue of a Greek God.
DI: What has been your main focus in designing this work? Especially what did you want to achieve?
: The idea behind the Trophy design was to convey a sense of pride and achievement, with the upward angle of the arms and chest helping to express these attributes.
DI: What are your future plans for this award winning design?
: It will no doubt take pride of place in the homes of the “Best Player in Europe” for years to come!
DI: How long did it take you to design this particular concept?
: Like most designs, it came with from a short burst of creative inspiration, probably a week of thinking and development.
DI: Why did you design this particular concept? Was this design commissioned or did you decide to pursuit an inspiration?
: It was commissioned direct from UEFA, a client with whom we have a long term relationship.
DI: Is your design being produced or used by another company, or do you plan to sell or lease the production rights or do you intent to produce your work yourself?
: This Trophy will only be used by UEFA to honour the "Best Player in Europe" each year.
DI: What made you design this particular type of work?
: Most sports Trophies
DI: Where there any other designs and/or designers that helped the influence the design of your work?
: Only an ancient statue of a Greek God.
DI: Who is the target customer for his design?
: The best football player in Europe each year.
DI: What sets this design apart from other similar or resembling concepts?
: There has been no football trophy similar to this design ever before.
DI: How did you come up with the name for this design? What does it mean?
: The client UEFA chose the name "Best Player in Europe".
DI: Which design tools did you use when you were working on this project?
: The body of a real sportsman was scanned with structured light 3D scanning technology, to capture the 3D scan of his torso area, then data containing a retopologised quad mesh with UV co-ordinates, displacement and colour maps was made.
DI: What is the most unique aspect of your design?
: The unique aspect is the fact that only a section of a human torso was used in the design, and yet it still works well.
DI: Who did you collaborate with for this design? Did you work with people with technical / specialized skills?
: After studying anatomical poses of soccer players, computer scanning techniques produced wire-frame images for rendering, followed by casting in highly reflective polished silver. The statue was then placed on a beautifully crafted black base, ergonomically designed to fit perfectly into the recipients’ hands.
DI: What is the role of technology in this particular design?
: The computer data was given to a silversmith sculptor, who used it to make a resin model of the Trophy, which was approved by the client, and then was utilised to hammer a metal coating onto, followed by a final layer of real silver. The torso shape was put onto a black marble base.
DI: Is your design influenced by data or analytical research in any way? What kind of research did you conduct for making this design?
: We researched the area of sporting trophies to make sure this design was truly original.
DI: How did you decide to submit your design to an international design competition?
: There are not many design awards that have categories which fit this Trophy. Usually they have categories which are only for commercial product designs.
DI: What did you learn or how did you improve yourself during the designing of this work?
: We learnt a lot about the technology behind the production.